Peg device for stringed instruments



March 15, 1966 D. JAQUITH 3,240,097

PEG DEVICE FOR STRINGED INSTRUMENTS Filed 001;. 12, 1964 ATTORNEY;

United States Patent Ofiice 3,240,097 Patented Mar. 15, 1966 3,240,097PEG DEVICE FOR STRINGED INSTRUMENTS Douglas Jaquith, 10302 Ilona Ave.,Los Angeles 64, Calif. Filed Oct. 12, 1964, Ser. No. 403,067 14 Claims.(Cl. 84-304) This invention relates to a peg device for stringedinstruments and more particularly to such a device for use infacilitating the tuning of such an instrument.

In stringed instruments, such as violins, violas, cellos and basses, thestrings are tuned by means of truncated cone shaped pegs which fitthrough similarly shaped apertures formed in a pegbox. The conventionaltype peg and pegbox arrangement has several deficiencies: First, it isimpossible with this type of arrangement to hold the string at itsoriginally tightened tuned position for any length of time due to theinadequacies of the holding action obtained between the mating peg andpegbox. Second, the pegs which are generally made of wood often makeirregular frictional contact with the pegb'ox sides, resulting inchatter when tuning which makes it difficult to properly tune theinstrument. Third, the sides of the wooden pegbox generally providerather poor bearing surfaces for the pegs, especially in view of theinstability of wood with changing climatic conditions. Fourth, it isoften difiicult to fit replacement pegs in the :pegbox due toirregularities in the pegbo-X either due to wear, the effects of climatevariations, or inaccuracies in fabrication. Fifth, with conventionalpegs and pegboxes it is necessary to constantly apply inward pressure onthe peg while tuning to prevent the peg from slipping in view of the useof the same direction of taper in both the peg and pegbox.

The device of this invention overcomes the shortcomings of prior art pegdevices by providing idealy tapered bearing means for the peg which aremounted in the pegbox and by specially forming and shaping the peg andits bearings so that while it is capable of being easily turned totighten the string on the bearings provided, the peg will not slip fromits final resting position, thus maintaining the tuning of the stringfor relatively long periods of time. Further, the central portion of thepeg is shaped to provide an ideal turning and holding surface for thestring. Certain of the bearings provided for the peg have a split ringconfiguration and are made to provide a tight fit over a variation ofpegbox aperture size-s. Both the peg and its associated bearings arefabricated of a smooth stable material to make for good bearingsurfaces.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved pegdevice for use in stringed instruments.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a peg device for usewith stringed instruments having better holding characteristics thanprior art devices.

It is a further object of this invention to eliminate chatter in thetightening of strings in stringed instruments thereby facilitating finetuning.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a peg device foruse in stringed instruments having improved bearing means for supportingthe pegs in the pegboX.

It is still another object of this invention to provide an improved pegdevice for use in stringed instruments which will maintain the tunedposition of a string over long periods of time.

It is another object of this invention to facilitate the replacement ofpegs in a stringed instrument.

Other objects of this invention will become apparent from the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings ofwhich-- FIG. 1 is an elevation view, partially in cross section, of afirst embodiment of the device of the invention,

FIG. 2 is an end view of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is an elevation view partially in cross section of a secondembodiment of the device of the invention,

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along the plane indicated by 4--4in FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 is an elevation View partially in cross section of a thirdembodiment of the device of the invention, and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the left hand sleeve bearing of theembodiment of FIG. 5.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, a first embodiment of the device of theinvention is shown. Peg member 11 includes thumb piece portion 12adjacent to which is portion 14 in the shape of a truncated cone havinga slight taper running in the direction away from the thumb piece.Tapered portion 14 drops off abruptly to central portion 16, whichincludes a first truncated conical section 18 having a relatively smalldiameter and having a taper running away from section 14, and a secondtruncated cone shaped section 19 having a taper running towards section18. Section 19 has a plurality of circular grooves 21 formed therein foraccommodating a string and string holes 22 for attaching such string tothe peg. The peg further has an end portion 25 which has crosswiserunning slots 27 formed therein to form four resilient fingers 28. Endportion 25 is formed so that fingers 28 are expanded outwardly when nopressure is applied thereto, so that such fingers resiliently urgeoutwardly.

Pegbox 30 includes oppositely facing walls 31 and 32, each of which hasan aperture 33 and 34 respectively, formed therein. Apertures 33 and 34are of a truncated conical configuration with their tapers running fromleft to right. Fitted in aperture 33 is truncated conical sleeve 35which is split so that it can readily be inserted into aperture 33 andwill expand to form a press tight fit therewith. Such splitconfiguration also enables a given size sleeve to be utilized inapertures having some variation in diameter. Sleeve 35 has a tapergenerally corresponding to that of aperture 33. Press fitted intoaperture 34 is truncated conical sleeve 40. Sleeve has an inside andoutside taper running opposite to that of aperture 34. Peg 11 andsleeves 35 and 40 are preferably made of a temperature stable resilientand smooth material, such as a suit-able plastic. An acetyl resin havinggraphite lubricant added thereto has been found to be most satisfactory.Sleeves 35 and 40 should be fabricated of a somewhat dissimilar materialfrom that used for peg 11 to make for more efiicient bearing surfaces.

The device of the invention operates as follows: A string which has beenthreaded through one of holes 22 is tightened in the normal fashion byrotating thumb piece 12. The string will ride in grooves 21, thesegrooves providing a more positive grip on the string and preventing suchstring from gravitating towards the center of the peg. The greaterdiameter at the right hand side of section 19 enables greater stringtakeup in the early tightening when such takeup is required. The finaltightening of the string is accomplished with such string being woundaround section 18, the inward taper of the section causing the string tocoil right and preventing it from contacting the pegbox which mightcause string Wear or malfunctioning thereof. The smaller diametered lefthand section 18 provides greater leverage and finer control in the finalstages of tuning where such is required.

As thumb piece 12 is rotated, end piece 25 is gradually moved to theright and in the final stages of tuning comes to rest as indicated bythe dotted lines. In this final position as shown by the dotted lines,the fingers 28 of portion 25 will expand outwardly, this by virtue ofthe outward taper of sleeve 40. Such outward expansion of fingers 28provides a firm retention of peg 11 in sleeve 40, preventing slippagethereof. The relatively low friction surfaces of the peg and itsassociated sleeve bearings make for easy rotation of the peg to provideproper tightening. At the same time, when such tightening has beenachieved, the outwardly urging fingers 28 provide a tight holdingengagement of peg 11 with sleeve 40.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, a second embodiment of the device of theinvention is shown. This embodiment is similar to that of FIGS. 1 and 2,except for the holding mechanism utilized in conjunction with the righthand wall of the pegbox. Like portions of this embodiment will beidentified by the same numerals used in FIGS. 1 and 2. Sleeve 40 ispress fitted into aperture 34. The inner wall of sleeve 40, rather thanhaving a taper running through its entire extent, only has its endportion 44 tapered inwardly. The end portion 50 of peg 11 is rectangularin configuration and has a threaded aperture 52 formed therein. Lockingpiece 55 has a central rectangular aperture 54 which mates with peg endportion 50. Locking piece 55 has an inwardly tapering outer wall portion57 with a greater taper than wall portion 44 of sleeve 40. In anoperative embodiment of the device of the invention a taper of twodegrees for wall portion 44 and four degrees for wall portion 57 hasbeen found to operate satisfactorily. In the embodiment of FIGS. 3 and4, holding action is achieved by tightening screw 60, this being donewhen the peg is initially installed and adjusted as necessary tomaintain proper holding action. The tightening of screw 60 forcesholding piece 55 into close engagement with sleeve 40. Peg 11 isprevented from rotating relative to holding piece 55 by virtue of theengagement provided between rectangular aperture 54 and rectangular endportion 50.

Referring now to FIGS. and 6, a third embodiment of the device of theinvention is illustrated. This embodiment differs from the others inthat holding engagement is primarily achieved by virtue of the action ofleft hand sleeve bearing 35, right hand sleeve bearing 38 being used forfine adjustment of the holding action. Sleeve bearing 35 as alongitudinal slot splitting it, similar to the left hand sleeve bearingshown in FIG. 1. However, the inner wall 61 of sleeve bearing 35 has ataper which runs towards the thumb piece which is opposite to the taperof the corresponding sleeve bearing of FIG. 1. Also adjacent totruncated conical portion 14 of peg 11 is a stepped down truncatedconical portion 64 which has a taper running in the same direction assleeve bearing 35. Sleeve 35 is retained on peg 11 by means of retainerring 37 formed in the end of peg portion 64 so that the peg and sleeve35 can be installed in the pegbox as a single unit. Right hand sleeve 40is retained in recess 41 formed in end portion 25. Final holdingadjustment is achieved by tightening screw 39 to expand the fingers ofend portion against sleeve bearing 40. Effective holding action isachieved by virtue of the pressure of sleeve against the wall of pegportion 64, this being implemented by the clamping action of the wallsof aperture 33 on the sleeve.

As already indicated, for proper operation of the device of theinvention it is important that peg 11 and bearings 35 and be made of aflexible resilient type material such as a plastic, which is relativelystable under temperature variations. This will enable accommodation tovariations in pegbox apertures.

The device of this invention is especially suited to re placement ofdamaged or broken pegs. In this type of situation the slotted sleevebearings will adapt readily to small variations in aperture size, asWill the resilient end portions 25 of the peg.

The device of this invention thus provides simple yet highly effectivemeans for facilitating the tuning of stringed instruments. Low frictionbearing means are provided which make it easy to turn the peg andeliminate the chattering so common with conventional peg mechanisms. Inaddition, means are provided for providing tight holding action for thepeg once it has been set into position,

such holding action being effective to obviate the necessity forfrequent retuning of the instrument.

While the device of the invention has been described and illustrated indetail, it is to be clearly understood that this is intended by way ofillustration and example only and is not to be taken by way oflimitation, the spirit and scope of this invention being limited only bythe terms of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A peg device for a stringed instrument comprising a pegbox having apair of opposite Walls, said walls having opposite truncated conicallyshaped apertures formed therein, the tapers of said apertures running inthe same direction,

sleeve bearing means pressfitted into each of said apertures, the innerwalls of said bearings means both having the shape of a truncated cone,the tapers of such truncated cones running towards the center of the pegbox, and

peg means for holding and tightening a string of said instrument, saidpeg means including a thumb piece at one end thereof, an inwardlytapering truncated conical portion immediately adjacent to said thumbpiece, a central portion, and an end portion adjacent to said centralportion, said end portion including expansion means for holding said pegmeans to an associated one of said sleeve bearing means,

said trancated conical portion of said peg means being rotatablysupported by the other of said sleeve bearing means.

2. The device as recited in claim 1 wherein said peg means includesmeans formed therein for retaining said sleeve bearing means.

3. A peg device for a stringed instrument comprising a pegbox having apair of opposite walls, said walls having opposite truncated conicallyshaped apertures formed therein, the tapers of said apertures running inthe ame direction,

sleeve bearing means pressfitted into each of said apertures, the innerwalls of said bearing means both having the shape of a truncated cone,the tapers of such truncated cones running towards the center of thepegbox, and

peg means for holding and tightening a string of said instrument, saidpeg means including a thumb piece at one end thereof, an inwardlytapering truncated conical portion immediately adjacent to said thumbpiece, a central portion having first and second trun cated conicalparts, said parts tapering inwardly towards each other, said second partbeing substantially longer than said first part and having asubstantially greater cone base diameter than said first part, and anend portion adjacent to the second part of said central portion, saidend portion including expansion means for holding said peg means to anassociated one of said sleeve bearing means,

said truncated conical portion of said peg means being rotatablysupported by the other of said sleeve bearing means.

4. The device as recited in claim 3 wherein said other of said sleevebearing means is split longitudinally to permit compression thereof toreduce its effective diameter.

5. The device as recited in claim 3 wherein the expansion means of saidend portion comprises longitudinal slots formed in said end portion toform outwardly expanding fingers.

6. The device as recited in claim 3 wherein the expansion means of saidend portion comprises a holding piece, said holding piece beingexternally concentric with said end portion and internally concentricwith said one sleeve bearing means, said holding piece being adapted toform a non-rotatable joint with said end portion and a holding jointwith said one sleevebearing means.

7. The device as recited in claim 3 wherein said second part of saidcentral portion has a plurality of spaced ringlike grooves formedtherein.

8. In a stringed instrument having a pegbox with apertures formed in theopposite walls thereof, a string tuning device comprising a sleevemember fabricated of smooth flexible stable material press fitted into'at least one of said apertures, said sleeve member having a truncatedcone-shaped outer wall and being split longitudinally, and

a peg member fabricated of smooth flexible temperature stable materialhaving a thumb piece, a truncated conical portion adjacent to said thumbpiece tapering away from said thumb piece, a central portion having afirst truncated conical section adjacent to said truncated conicalportion with a diameter substantially less than that of said truncatedconical portion, said first section tapering away from said truncatedconical portion, and a second truncated conical section extending fromsaid first section with a taper running opposite to that of said firstsection, the diameter of the end of said second section from which thetaper thereof runs being substantially greater than the correspondingend of said first section, and an end portion, said end portionincluding means for providing outward expansion thereof, said peg memberbeing supported in said pegbox apertures on said sleeve member,

whereby said sleeve member provides a rotation bearing for said pegmember and said peg member end portion provides means for holding saidpeg member to said pegbox.

9. The device as recited in claim 8 wherein the second conical sectionof said central portion has a plurality of spaced ring-like groovesformed therein, said grooves being concentric with the longitudinal axisof said peg.

10. The device as recited in claim 8 and further including a secondsleeve member fitted into the other of said apertures, the tapers ofboth of said sleeve members running towards the center of said pegbox.

11. The device as recited in claim 8 wherein said end portion has alongitudinally extending slot means formed therein to form a pluralityof expansion fingers.

12. In a stringed instrument having a pegbox with apertures formed inthe opposite walls thereof, a string tuning device comprising sleevemeans fabricated of smooth flexible stable material press fitted into atleast one of said apertures, said sleeve means having a truncatedcone-shaped outer wall and being split longitudinally, and

a peg member fabricated of smooth flexible temperature stable materialhaving a thumb piece, a truncated conical portion adjacent to said thumbpiece tapering away from said thumb piece, a stepped down truncatedconical portion adjacent to said aforementioned conical portion taperingtoward said thumb piece, a central portion having a first truncatedconical section adjacent to said stepped down portion with a diametersubstantially less than said stepped down portion, said first sect-iontapering away from said stepped down portion, and a second truncatedconical section extending from said first section with a taper runningopposite to that of said first section, the diameter of the end of saidsecond section from which the taper thereof runs being substantiallygreater than the corresponding end of said first sec ion, and an endportion, said end portion including means for providing outwardexpansion thereof, said peg member being supported in said pegboxapertures on said sleeve means,

whereby said sleeve means provides a rotation bearing for said pegmember and said peg member end portion provides means for holding saidpeg member to said pegbox.

13. The tuning device as recited in claim 12 wherein said sleeve meanscomprises a sleeve fitted into each of said apertures.

14. The tuning device as recited in claim 13 wherein said stepped downportion has a retainer ring formed therein for retaining one of saidsleeves in said peg member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 423,648 3/1890Wilcox 84-305 1,328,824 1/1920 Dorrell 84--305 1,375,304 4/1921 Lindsey84-305 1,832,379 11/1931 Gilbert 84-304 2,173,800 9/1939 Coates 84-305LEO SMILOW, Primary Examiner.

1. A PEG DEVICE FOR A STRINGED INSTRUMENT COMPRISING A PEGBOX HAVING APAIR OF OPPOSITE WALLS, SAID WALLS HAVING OPPOSITE TRUNCATED CONICALLYSHAPED APERTURES FORMED THEREIN, THE TAPERS OF SAID APERTURES RUNNING INTHE SAME DIRECTION, SLEEVE BEARING MEANS PRESSFITTED INTO EACH OF SAIDAPERTURES, THE INNER WALLS OF SAID BEARINGS MEANS BOTH HAVING THE SHAPEOF A TRUNCATED CONE, THE TAPERS OF SUCH TRUNCATED CONES RUNNING TOWARDSTHE CENTER OF THE PEG BOX, AND PEG MEANS FOR HOLDING AND TIGHTENING ASTRING OF SAID INSTRUMENT, SAID PEG MEANS INCLUDING A THUMB PIECE AT ONEEND THEREOF, AN INWARDLY TAPERING TRUNCATED CONICAL PORTION IMMEDIATELYADJACENT TO SAID THUMB PIECE, A CENTRAL PORTION, AND AN END PORTIONADJACENT TO SAID CENTRAL PORTION, SAID END PORTION INCLUDING EXPANSIONMEANS FOR HOLDING SAID PEG MEANS TO AN ASSOCIATED ONE OF SAID SLEEVEBEARING MEANS, SAID TRANCATED CONICAL PORTION OF SAID PEG MEANS BEINGROTATABLY SUPPORTED BY THE OTHER OF SAID SLEEVE BEARING MEANS.